Nonskid chain



Patented Jan, 13, 1931 I UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE PRESTON M. HALL, OF WORCESTER, AND WOLCOTT REMINGTON, OF SWAMPSCOTT, MAS- SACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THOMSON-GIBB ELECTRIC WELDING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS NONSKID CHAIN Application filed February 3, 1925. Serial No. 6,541.

Our invention relates to non-skid chains used upon vehlcle wheels and more partlcu- 'larly to chains wherein provision is made for increasing the non-skid action by use of calks or pieces of metal attached to the links of the chain and affording wear or bite surfaces additional to those of the chain link itselfspecial forms of calk or of bending the same to attach them. A further object is to provide a non-skid'chain in which the calks shall afford a maximum of wear surface thereby prolonging the life of the chain.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a cross member of a non-skid chain in plan of the general type to' which the invention is applied, some of the links being provided with calks applied according to our invention.

The links of the cross members of the nonskid chains are indicated at 1. These cross members as usual in the art connect the side members extending circumferentially around the tire or rim of the wheel and by engaging the road surface prevent skidding. Each link 1 of the cross member consists preferablv as usual of a twisted link the corners of which in the ordinary way of the device bite into the road surface This enhances the efliciency of the chain in its non-skid action. It has been proposed to attachsupplementary pieces of metal to each link, said supplementary pieces or calk co-acting with the corners of thechain link in biting into the road surface and in some cases being appliedto the link with the purpose of strengthening the construction. In some instances said supplementary pieces have been attached bytwisting their ends around the side members of the link; in other cases the calks or pieces applied to the link have been blocks of metal inserted between the side members of the link and attached to the inner surface of said sides. In other instances the calks have con sisted of a piece of metal welded to a side link and affording some increased biting surface but not acting to strengthen the link.

In our improved construction the difliculties and objections incidentto such prior art construction will be entirely avoided and the maximum of strength, ease of construction and long life of the chain are attained, to-

gether with increased ability to prevent sidewise skidding of the vehicle by affording sharp edges or corners on the sides of the bar or rod forming the calk in contact with the roadway. This we accomplish by the aid of cross bars 2 of the form illustrated in Fig. 3 and acting as the calk and applied to the outside of the chain link to bridge the cross members in a manner to permit them to be readily welded to the link by an electric resistance method wherein the parts are subjected to compression between welding electrodes.

They may extend at right angles to of the chain link so as to engage the depressed portion of each twisted link or may be otherwise disposed as shown inFig. (4). They are of such length as to permit full contact with the outside'surface of the chain at which point the rounded surface of the link in conjunction with or independently of the round of the calk or bar affords the limited contact desired for efiiciency in Welding. According to the present invention the cross bars or calks are rectangular in cross section as shown in Fig. (3). This form of y non-skid chain and therefore resist any tendency of the wheel'to which the chain is applied to move sidewise.

Furthermore it gives increased wear surface and increases the life of the chain and additionally the corner which engages the link will assist in the welding operation since said corner causes the calk to engage the link by a very limited extent of contacting surface so that when the calk is applied by the electric resistance method the heating at the point of engagement or welding is greatly facilitated and the pressure applied will further cause the sinking of the bar or calk into the surface of the link. The link of each calk may be made so that it will extend up to or even beyond the side lines bounding the cross sides of the link and by so extending it, under some conditions, its biting or non-skiding effect will be enhanced. The cross bar or calk may also be of such thickness that its wear surface will be above the corners of the chain link and will take the wear entirely'or it may be substantially flush with said corners so as to coact with the chain link itself in the nonskid action.

The substantial advantage of our invention is that we avoid the necessity of bending the calk around the sides of the link and that it is not necessary to insert it between the sides, of the link as is required where the 'oints or welds between the calk and the si es of the link are made on the inside while at the same time additional advantagesdue to the presence of the sharp corner extending along the edge of the angular bar parallel to the axis thereof and above referred to are secured. Furthermore by appl in it and welding it to the outside, said ca is ess liable to become detached than would be the case if the joining were made, as proposed in some prior non-sln'd chains at a point between the sides where the impact on the calk would tend vent skidding in eitherof two directions transversely to the length of said bar of metal.

Signed at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, this 26th day of January A, D. 1925.

PRESTON M. HALL. WOLCOTT REMINGTON.

- to force the calk through the link and there is no sustaining effect of the link sides to prevent breakage of the joint. Also as may be seen the resistance method of welding may be much more readily conducted in our invention than in the case of a calk inserted in the link since in the latter case it would be necessary to compress the link by a transverse pressure in order to effectively engage the calk and the link in the welding o eration.

By making the cross bar ofs cient thickness to practically take the whole wear it is obvious that the life of the chain may be greatly enhanced since the wear upon the corners of the link itself is avoided and weakening of the chain link itself will therefore not take place until the thickness of the bar or calk has been greatly diminished by wear. What we claim as our invention is: t A non-skid chain link formed as a-metal loop twisted to place the opposite sides at an angle to one another and having an attached 

